


The Waiting

by friendofspiderman



Series: Fictober 2020 [22]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, FOS Squad, Ficlet, Fictober, Gen, Good Friend Ned Leeds, Light Angst, Michelle Jones Needs a Hug, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, Protective Michelle Jones, Spider-Man: Far From Home (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:08:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27159091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/friendofspiderman/pseuds/friendofspiderman
Summary: Fictober Prompt #22 - "and neither should you"---After Peter leaves the hotel to take down Mysterio, MJ battles anxious inner thoughts.
Relationships: Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds, Michelle Jones/Peter Parker
Series: Fictober 2020 [22]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1953223
Comments: 12
Kudos: 30





	The Waiting

“Don’t tell anyone about this, okay? Anyone who knows is in danger.”

MJ nods as Peter jumps out the hotel window and swings away.

He _jumped out the window_.

She doesn’t know why that shocks her, because now she knows for certain what she’s been 67% sure of for months—Peter’s a superhero.

Peter’s _Spider-Man_.

When his secret identity was only a thought she entertained in her mind, only a concept, only a mystery she had to solve, fighting the bad guys sounded like a badass mission straight out of a movie. It sounded _exciting_. Now that Peter had told her the truth, his running off to expose a man who has access to killer drones offers no excitement—only anxiety.

“So, you know too.”

She turns to look at Ned—she’d forgotten he was even there.

“It’s cool, um, I mean, I’ve known first and I’ve known longer, but it’s not a competition.”

MJ’s speechless, unsure whether Ned is being serious or joking with her. His goofy smile falls as she steps back to sit on the bed and exhales.

“You okay MJ?” 

She nods, staring straight ahead, focusing on keeping the trepidation she feels out of her voice. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay.”

Ned smiles in response, a little too brightly for her taste. His best friend is on a world-saving quest, and he’s this chill?

“So… now what?” She asks, hands in her pockets, trying desperately to look relaxed as her mind drifts in and out of panic mode.

“We wait. Nothing else we can do.” He shrugs, looking far too comfortable with that hard truth.

MJ’s decidedly _not_ okay with being helpless. Peter is out there, risking his life to save the world, and they can’t _do_ anything.

She wants to text him and see if he makes it to Berlin okay. She wants to check in on him every hour, asking for updates on what Fury’s plan is, asking for confirmation that everything will be alright.

But she can’t.

What if something goes wrong, if Peter _dies_ out there, and they only find out on the news, and they reveal Peter’s identity when they report Spider-Man as dead because mainstream media is a _hellhole_ with no regard for privacy, and—

“He’s alright, MJ.” She looks up, a bit surprised that Ned seems to be reading her mind. “He took down that plane Liz’s evil dad hijacked during Homecoming, did you know that? And he just took down a whole crime family last week, and he’s been to space…” He trails off. “Anyway, I’m not gonna worry about him, and neither should you, okay? Trust me, it only makes the waiting worse.”

Right. The waiting. Ned has clearly done this before, multiple times. MJ will have to get used to the waiting, too, she figures—but does she _want_ to get used to it? Does she want to spend as much time with Peter—with _Spider-Man_ —as the time she’s spent thinking of him?

“MJ, you sure you’re okay?”

She snaps out of it. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Okay, cool. I need to go back and use my room phone to call May. Do you…do you wanna come with? If you want we can just chill there…if you don’t wanna be alone.”

MJ imagines Ned’s offer is no small sacrifice, as he’s been spending time with Betty every night of the trip so far. Her attempt to appear unbothered must not be working as well as she’d hoped.

But she’d much rather deal with her stress alone right now.

“I’m good. Thanks. I’ll just…I’m fine.”

“Okay.” Ned nods. “Well, if you need something and you text me, make sure you’re doing it in some sort of code. Just in case.”

He leaves, and MJ’s thoughts turn to the conversation she and Peter had on the bridge.

When Peter had asked her to go out earlier, she was exhilarated. She’d been harboring a crush on him for over a year now, maybe longer if she was honest with herself. And yet, when push came to shove and he asked her why she was watching him, she’d lied.

She’d _lied_ , and she saw how it crushed him. And now he’s off risking his neck, not knowing how she really feels.

And that makes the waiting infinitely worse.

MJ tries to reassure herself that Peter will be fine. If everything goes to plan, she’ll hear from Peter soon enough. Hopefully tomorrow. Maybe the day after that.

For now, she is stuck. There’s nothing she can do, except vow to tell Peter her true feelings if—no, not if, when— _when_ she sees him again. Just the thought of that intimacy makes her anxious, but she is determined to make things right. Peter deserves to hear her tell the truth, a privilege she so willingly shares with everyone else.

She can tell him tomorrow. He’ll fix this, he’ll expose Mysterio’s sins and avoid the killer drones, and she’ll tell him.

Until then, she waits.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading <3


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